Healthy Elon Committee offers guidance for Spring Semester

Dear Elon community,

We are reaching out to provide an overview of campus plans for in-person learning and engagement during Spring Semester. As the pandemic shifts to a more endemic phase and we learn how to live with the ongoing presence of the virus in our environment, we will continue our institutional focus on vaccines and boosters, wearing high-quality masks, testing, and being thoughtful about social interactions in light of the highly transmissible Omicron variant.

Please review the information below and be prepared as we navigate the semester together. We will continue to update the dashboard daily and work to communicate any changes in advance.

Get your booster

Elon will continue to follow CDC recommendations that all who are eligible should receive boosters, which are effective in protecting a residential and highly interactive campus community from severe illness. Students are required to submit their booster documentation no later than Jan. 31. Employees should upload their booster documentation as soon as possible for their own health and the protection of all members of our community.

Students who test positive at the start of Spring Semester

Students in quarantine or isolation (at home, abroad, or on campus) should immediately contact quarantine-support@Elon.edu and their faculty members for guidance.

• See bullets below (under “Class absences during Spring Semester”) regarding how faculty will determine arrangements to address learning goals and outcomes.

Mask policy for beginning of Spring Semester

Due to continued high rates of community transmission, the university will continue requiring masks indoors at all times in accordance with current CDC guidance. Last week, the CDC confirmed both that well-fitting N95 and KN95 masks provide the best protection against Omicron, and that individuals should “wear the most protective mask you can that fits well and that you will wear consistently.” Gaiters, bandanas, hoodies, or masks with valves (including N95) are not appropriate or adequate face coverings.

Faculty notifications of students in quarantine/isolation

Faculty may continue to view the list of their students in isolation and quarantine (whether students are at home, abroad, or on campus) on the “Class Roster” function OnTrack (not the self-service app). Starting the first day of class, faculty will continue to receive email notifications of students placed in quarantine.

Class absences during Spring Semester

Faculty members and students are encouraged to discuss early and often the protocols for illness-related absences, so students are able to progress academically and continue to be engaged in their coursework.

• Students: Familiarize yourself with the updated Student FAQs for detailed information on communicating with faculty, what to do if experiencing symptoms, roommates, and more. Please also show faculty and staff patience/grace as they work to respond to changing conditions.
• Employees: The updated Academic FAQs and Employee FAQs provide detailed information regarding what to do if experiencing symptoms, faculty guidance, and more.
• Individual faculty members will continue to support students absent from class due to COVID circumstances and determine arrangements with students to address appropriate learning goals and outcomes in light of the course, discipline, teaching methodology, etc.
• Students in quarantine/isolation are expected to communicate regularly with faculty members.

If you feel ill or are a close contact with a positive case

View the latest resources and guidance on the Health & Wellness web page.

If you test positive (through on or off-campus testing)

Students: Contact Care & Outreach (quarantine-support@elon.edu) and faculty members.

Employees: Contact Human Resources (HREmployeeCovid@elon.edu or 336-278-5560) and your supervisor or department chair.

Testing on campus

Visit the testing page for details on asymptomatic (McCoy Commons in Oaks Neighborhood) and symptomatic testing (Ellington Center).

If your roommate or family member tests positive

By the time your roommate or family member tests positive chances are high that you have already been exposed. With that in mind, please note the following:

While staff prioritize contacting positive cases, followed by close contacts, students/colleagues may learn their roommate/colleagues have tested positive before hearing from Quarantine Support or Human Resources.

If you are not vaccinated (or boosted, if eligible), you will be assigned to quarantine. Remain in your room/home and await instructions from Quarantine Support or Human Resources.

If you are vaccinated (and boosted, if eligible) and have no symptoms, you do not have to be quarantined, but should wear a mask whenever you are around others. If you are asymptomatic, get tested (off-campus or McCoy Commons) five days after exposure.

If you develop symptoms at any time, test as soon as possible at the Ellington Center (students), off-campus, or Faculty-Staff Health & Wellness (employees).

Continuity of work policy for faculty & staff

Employees with a member of their household infected with COVID-19, should contact their supervisor and Human Resources (336-278-5560 or HREmployeeCovid@elon.edu) for support and to discuss flexibility provided by the policy for continuity of work and instruction.

Thank you

We offer grateful appreciation to the incredible Student Life staff, who have managed Winter Term student cases in quarantine/isolation, and to staff in Student Health Services, Asymptomatic Testing, Faculty-Staff Wellness, University Communications, Global Education Center, Facilities Management, IT, Elon Dining, Parent Engagement, and many more working around the clock in stressful conditions.

The Elon community continues to pull together to protect each other while remaining focused on our mission under yet another assault from COVID-19. We believe there are brighter days ahead in Spring Semester and beyond.

We appreciate your efforts to make those brighter days possible.

Jeff Stein, Healthy Elon Committee Chair

• Dan Anderson, Special Assistant to the President
• Ginette Archinal, Medical Director of Student Health and University Physician
• John Barnhill, Associate Vice President for University Advancement
• Tom Flood, Assistant Vice President of Physical Plant
• Jason Husser, Associate Professor of Political Science and Policy Studies, and Director of the Elon Poll (Academic Council Representative)
• Deandra Little, Assistant Provost, Director of the Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning and Professor of English
• Paul Miller, Associate Provost for Academic Excellence and Operations and Professor of Exercise Science
• Kelly Reimer, Senior Director of Teaching and Learning Technologies (Staff Council Representative)
• Carrie Ryan, Assistant Vice President for Auxiliary Services
• Kelli Shuman, Associate Vice President for Human Resources & Chief Human Resources Officer
• Gabie Smith, Dean of Elon College, the College of Arts and Sciences and Professor of Psychology
• Mary Southern, Project Manager for Provost and Academic Affairs Operations (Project Manager)
• Mike Ward, Deputy Director of Athletics
• Randy Williams, Vice President and Associate Provost for Inclusive Excellence and Assistant Professor of Education